There has been a migration of citizens of Blue States to Red States in recent years. The Electoral votes have declines in recent years from Blue New England States and are supposed to do so again in the future.

What is most telling is that major retailers did not come to Maine until late in the game and this is still considered a bad thing affecting smaller retail shops. One would like to think that the “buying power” referenced would allow such savings to be passed on to the consumers in price savings. However, in what could be considered a truly remarkable statement:

Retail is seen as an important sector in Maine’s economy. According to the Labor Department’s February estimates, 86,300 people worked in retail out of a total work force of 594,300, or 15 percent of Maine’s workers.

However, Mills noted that many of the people employed in retail are part-timers, and that they choose to work less than 40 hours a week.

“For many people, a full-time, 40-plus-hour-a-week job, is not what’s called for,” said Mills. “You have students, you have families where one parent is the primary breadwinner and the other is getting some extra money.”

In a state that also complains about a lack of jobs, they are now complaining about working a full time 40 hour work week as well providing benefits. Is it any wonder why the population migrates away?